10 Tools For Managing Business Cards and Exchanging Contacts in the Digital Age

While smartphones have made collecting contact information easy, business cards remain the easiest, quickest way to exchange data with business associates. But today’s busy executives have found ways to bring technology to the mix. For traditionalists, this means easily organizing data from the cards collected each day. For more modern business professionals, technology brings an opportunity to eliminate paper cards altogether, with information captured wirelessly.

Whatever your preferred method of business card transmission, the right tech tools can help. Here are a few of the best apps for storing, organizing, and managing information on your contacts.

Digital Business Card Management

Olocode–With Olocode, all your contacts need to find your contact information is your code. The Olocode can be printed on business cards and other print materials or shared via e-mail. By using the Olocode, contacts import your vCard into their devices, allowing them to add your details to their device address books or Outlook contact lists.

EverContact–EverContact scans a user’s e-mail to automatically enhance existing information in address books and CRMs. If a contact’s signature line contains newer information, that information will be automatically updated in the background, while the user continues working. The app can also scan a user’s e-mail history to find contact information that isn’t already included.

One Card–No download is required with One Card, which transmits business cards through e-mail, text message, QR codes, and more. Instead of handing over a paper card, professionals can text a One Card, which gives those contacts the option of adding you as a contact, following you on social media, and more.

CardDrop–CardDrop is a cloud-based application that has users “drop” a card for pickup by another user. Even if a user doesn’t have a smartphone, cards can be accessed at CardDrop.com. Through the app, users can either drop a card or pick up, with the app using a person’s location to determine drop-off points.

Bump–Bump is the app many people think of when it comes to transferring contacts from device to device by mere proximity. Available for iOS and Android operating systems, Bump lets smartphone users tap phones together to transfer contacts from one phone to another. It is the eighth most popular free app of all time and in September 2013, it was acquired by Google.

Poken–Poken provides small tokens, ideal for trade shows and conferences. These Pokens can be tapped together or touched to exchange contact information, store documents, and more. When an attendee returns to a computer, the Poken can be connected to a USB port and all information accessed. The attendee can then add contacts to address books, share documents with colleagues, and more.

Business Card Scanning Apps

Evernote Hello–Evernote’s contact management feature lets users either manually input a person’s contact information or take a photo of a business card. Evernote’s Hello feature also provides users the ability to connect to a group of people. By going through Evernote, you’ll have a record of whom was added when, which will help you track contacts back to specific events.

CamCard–Featuring compatibility with almost every mobile operating system imaginable, CamCard uses a device’s camera to translate business card text. Information is then inserted into a user’s “card holder,” where they can organize it. Contact information in the app can also be shared via e-mail or SMS or can be exported into an Excel file or vCard.

CardMunch–LinkedIn’s business card reader app uses live transcriptionists to translate each business card and create a mobile Rolodex. The app also allows users to connect with contacts on LinkedIn with just one tap.

Full Contact Card Reader–For Salesforce users, Full Contact is a great choice, since the app scans cards directly into a user’s account. Full Contact uses a phone’s camera to scan cards, which are then transcribed by live workers.

If you have a stack of business cards taking up room in your briefcase, these apps provide a better way to organize and safely store your paper cards–or eliminate paper altogether. As these apps grow in popularity, traditional business cards will begin to seem outdated, leaving you no choice but to make the transition from paper to digital.

Stephanie Faris

Stephanie is a freelance writer and young adult/middle grade novelist, who worked in information systems for more than a decade. Her first book, 30 Days of No Gossip, will be released by Simon and Schuster in spring 2014. She lives in Nashville with her husband.